Life's Never Simple
by Drafonis
Summary: Several years after Third Impact, Shinji Ikari is working as a hitman for his father. He gets an assignment to eliminate a fellow pilot: Rei. But will he be able to go through?
1. Why Can’t Fate Give Me A Good Day?

**Life's Never Simple**

A/N: This chapter is told from Shinji's POV, and will constantly rotate between Shinji's and Rei's POVs.

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Chapter 1

Why Can't Fate Give Me A Good Day?

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"Colonel Shinji Ikari, you have a new mission." A voice behind me said. I could tell, even without looking at him, that it was Lieutenant Futasaki. He was always the one who contacted me about Father's plans. Ever since the day that NERV had thrown off SEELE's attack and stopped Third Impact, Father has been living in disgrace. He had only one weapon left in his arm: Project ARK. That was pretty much everything that I knew.

The lieutenant had been hired because he reminded Father of his old second-in-command, Fuyutsuki. He had similar facial features, the same look, and brown hair. However, Futasaki was loyal to Father, while Fuyutsuki was loyal to NERV.

"Yes, I understand, Lieutenant." I replied, my voice cold and emotionless. The day's since Father's fall from grace had led me down an unbearable chain of assassination and escape. I began walking down the narrow halls of Father's base of operations, an old, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Tokyo-3.

When I arrived into Father's office, I found him sitting with his hands clasped together. "What is my mission?" I asked.

"Your newest target is one that I had been plotting against for a while now. She was formerly under my command as an Evangelion pilot, but betrayed me as I attempted to unleash Third Impact. She is attending a meeting with senior NERV officials. I want you to kill her." Father ordered.

"Yes, Father, I understand. I will get ready for my mission." Once again, I was emotionless.

"Here is a recent photograph." Father said, and handed me one showing a tall, slim girl of fourteen with blue hair and red eyes.

I walked to my room, a small, converted broom closet, and took my few material possessions: my rifle, a spare shirt, and my SDAT. Then I headed to the car.

The car was located in a secret garage that fed out throughout the city. This allowed me to minimize suspicion, since the world believed that the entire Ikari family was dead and buried. Father had ordered a gassing of NERV from the UN Military, and then snuck out through the sewage, myself in tow. From what we know, only two NERV members were killed: Dr. Akagi and Major Katsuragi.

I got onto the main road and began driving to the hotel that Father had booked for me. It was old and run-down, but it had one advantage: the room I had directly overlooked the Emperor, the restaurant where the treacherous female Eva pilot was going… tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day.

I went over the plan, and realized that I would only have one shot, and only five seconds to take it. I would have to be precise, cool, calculated. If I missed my shot, NERV operatives would be storming the hotel. If I missed my chance, I would have to storm the Emperor. That was no easy task even for a strike team, and I was a lone assassin.

Deciding that I needed to get some information on my target, I decided to attempt to hack into NERV and learn all I could about my blue-haired target.

I pulled out my laptop, an old one that was actually made three years after Second Impact, and had been reinstalled and upgraded several times before the attack on NERV.

"Let's see just who you are…" I muttered, and quickly forced my way into NERV. "Name: Rei Ayanami. Father: Unknown… That's strange… Why would her father be unknown…?"

Realizing that I was wasting my time, I logged off, closed my laptop, and lay down on my bed, mentally programming myself to wake up at six in the morning, about two hours before Ayanami's arrival at the Emperor.

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I awoke two hours ahead of time, and knew that I wouldn't be able to return to sleep, so I took the time to clean my scoped rifle. It would take me about two hours to take off all the dust, and then I could make an alternate plan.

Quietly, so as to not disturb the rooms around me (I had checked the walls, and they were paper-thin), I opened my rifle case and pulled out the rifle, which was actually a hunting rifle that had been reworked to fire heavier rounds.

Then, I pulled out a towel and began to wipe the casing, barrel, and everything else until it was spotless. Once that was done, I took out my map of the Emperor and looked to find the best route to take out Ayanami.

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Around an hour and fifty-five minutes later, I finished my plan, opened my window, and waited for the NERV limo to arrive.

Five minutes later, a black limo arrived. I quickly shouldered my rifle, and watched through the scope. First, around twenty NERV Security agents piled out, armed with automatic rifles, and set up a perimeter on the ground. Then, Ayanami began getting out. I placed the crosshair on her head.

I began trying to pull the trigger that would send the meeting down, but I _couldn't fire_! Something held me back… I kept trying to fire, but my trigger finger would not move!

That delay allowed her enough time to enter the Emperor, and I knew that it was folly to attempt to do an assault in my state, so I repacked my rifle, took out my cell phone, and dialed Father's number.

"Father, this is Shinji. Mission: failed. Target is still functional. I was unable to fire for some reason." I said, once the dialing and synchronizing was complete.

"Confirmed, Agent 9. Return for reconfiguration." Father ordered.

"Yes." I replied, and shut down the cell phone before throwing it out the window. Then, I took my stuff and ran to the reception desk and returned my key.

"Leaving so soon, Mr. Itari?" the receptionist said, using my codename. Father had made it ninety-percent similar to my real one, but differences were necessary. To the rest of the world, Shinji and Gendo Ikari are dead.

When I arrived at the warehouse, three of my father's guards yanked me out of the car and escorted me into his room, and threw me roughly to the floor.

"So, Shinji. You have failed to complete your mission." Father said coldly, and I thought I caught a flash of relief in his eyes. What was going on? Was he glad that I failed to kill Ayanami? "So now you have a new mission. You must infiltrate NERV Headquarters and get close to Rei Ayanami. When you're close, kill her and steal the blueprints for Evangelion Units 00 through 02. Those designs, as well as Rei's and Adam's blood, are important for Project ARK."

"Father, you've mentioned Project ARK several times. Please tell me what it is."

"That," Father said. "Is none of your concern. Now, GO!"

Not wanting to attract Father's fury, I left, seething as well. He had given me a high rank in his "organization", and even allowed me to give orders, yet he still felt the need to inform me of anything!

I began looking for anything that could help me infiltrate NERV. Amongst what I found were my old NERV ID Card, a plug suit, and someone else's card…

Then it hit me. I knew my target somehow… I saw her sometime in my past… I wish I could remember…

I got back in the car, and drove toward NERV Headquarters, relying on my memories to take me to a place that I could not even be sure of. That's when I spotted Ayanami. She was still near the Emperor, but apparently had already finished her speech. I decided to confront her. I left the car, and walked up to her.

"Hello, Ayanami." I said, surprising even myself. Why did I talk to her like I… _knew _her?

"I… Ikari-kun?" she asked, surprise in her voice. "What happened to you? After the gassing…"

"I am unsure, Ayanami."

"I see… Where were you?"

"I've been… I don't know."

"I think you are lying, Ikari-kun."

"I assure you, Ayanami, I would do nothing of the sort."

"Sure, sure. What do you want, anyway?"

"A spot at NERV, preferably as the position I had before my disappearance."

"You mean as the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01?"

"Any position. Yes."

"Very well. Follow me."

I followed Rei. There was no other choice, for, if I turned back, Father would kill me. That much I could tell.

Why can't Fate give me a good day for once?

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A/N: Do you think I should continue with this story?

For those of you who are confused why Shinji is acting this way, you will have to wait to find out.

Please note that pairings are already written in stone, but I will not tell them because of the fact that it would potentially ruin the suspense I have planned.


	2. When will this end?

**Life's Never Simple**

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A/N: This will be from Shinji's POV again, and will take off immediately after Chapter 1.

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Chapter 2

When Will This End?

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"Get in." Rei ordered, her red eyes glistening with… something. She was pointing to her car, an old, pre-Second Impact limousine, it's front bumper bent from the weight of a telephone pole.

Not willing to cause a commotion, I obeyed, entering the old limo. She motioned for me to take the far seat, and I did so. She sat down in the middle, and her guards, two ex-UN military personnel wearing a black suit and sunglasses, got in. From their form, they seemed to be amateurs, but they all carried what looked like powerful, fifty-caliber handguns, so I knew that I had no choice for two reasons. I also began to dread the moment of my betrayal.

I put my suitcase down on my lap, and inwardly smirked. They really were amateurs, not even bothering to check it. For all they knew, I could have six pounds of bombs in there, yet they didn't check. Yet, at the same time, I welcomed their stupidity. That was my rifle. I also fingered my handgun, which I kept in a small, hollow hole I had cut into the suitcase, and then covered with fine black cloth.

"Ikari, let's get down to business. Are you, in any way, associated with your father?" Rei asked, motioning for a guard to take aim at me.

The guard followed Rei's order. Gently, I lowered my gaze to the floor, trying to inconspicuously create an escape plan if this goes wrong. "No, Ayanami-san, I am not. Or at least, not anymore." I said, and wondered how much of it was true. Presumably, it was all a lie. But was it really? Why couldn't I fire yesterday?

Rei was disturbed by my answer, that much was obvious. I had grown proficient in reading other's faces, and even those who were able to hide their emotions would be easy to discern… Well, not easy, but possible.

"So, Rei, how's… Shoot, I forgot. I've been forgetting everything. I might even forget my name one day!" I joked.

Instead of easing the tension, as I had intended, my comment only made it worse. Apparently, that sparked Rei's suspicion, which was the worst mistake I could have made.

"Interesting story. Now, why don't you tell me the truth?" she asked, whipping out her semiautomatic pistol.

_Damn. Looks like I'll have to get my hands dirty after all._ I thought nervously. Rumor throughout Father's higher-up divisions said that Rei was dangerous to cross, and a skilled martial artist. I would have to face her in a car at close range, and she had the first move.

I quickly moved my hand to get under her pistol, forcing it to point at her face. "Will you listen to me now?" I asked calmly, although sweat was pouring across my brow.

"Yes." Rei replied sorrowfully, returning her gun to her holster. "Ikari, how would you like to join my protective detail?"

This was the best opportunity I had. "Very well."

"I'm hosting a ball tomorrow at UN HQ. They've been rather friendly with NERV since Third Impact was averted." She said. "I expect you to be there. If you are okay, I will add Eva pilot in addition to your protection duties."

"I understand, ma'am."

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Later, at the ball, the detail assigned me to guard the balcony. Silently, I prayed that Father would not send an assassin to watch over me. Then I would have to fire, or risk my charade being blown. But was it a charade? Or was there something… Deeper? What was it I felt around Rei? Loyalty? But I was supposed to be loyal to Father, not Rei… Rei was my target… But did I care?

I decided to spend the time I was up there cleaning my pistol. After all, no matter if my behavior around Rei was really an act or something else, I would definitely fire if Father attacked.

That was when I caught a glimpse of an assault rifle barrel. I quickly brought my pistol's sights to my face, judging where the target's head would be. I had placed a silencer on the pistol so that any shots I might fire would not frighten the guests. Then I pulled the trigger three times, and the assault rifle vanished behind the curtains. But then came the sound of automatic gunfire.

"Code Red! The commander's under attack!" my radio crackled to life, and I realized that I would need a different gun. I whipped out my sniper rifle, the same one I had used when I was ordered to merely assassinate Rei… How I wished that those had remained my orders.

I looked around for the shooters, and then quickly located them. They were on the adjacent balcony. Slowly, I crouched down, taking careful aim with my sniper rifle. I would have to be fast and accurate. My breath naturally speeded up, but I forced myself to relax. Too much nervousness would cause a miss… And my death.

My finger naturally tensed on the trigger, and I completely stopped breathing. Then, I fired off one shot. Two shots. Three.

Another gunner spotted me, and he opened fire. Bullets whizzed over my head, shattering glasses, windows, and mugs. I pulled my pistol out and fired three times, missing.

Suddenly, Rei rushed at the attacker, a sword in her hand. Caught unaware, the guard was impaled on her sword.

"Stack up! Secure the area!" blared my radio. I ran down the stairs, holstering my pistol as I went, and joined up with the others in the center of the ballroom.

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A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I was having trouble formulating many parts of the story, preoccupied with other stories, and massive school and social troubles. However, that was the second chapter of Life's Never Simple. 


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